The End' is just another 'Game Over'
by Ysavvryl
Summary: The game's over? It shouldn't be over. It's not completed.


**'The End' is just another 'Game Over'**

Hi.

Hello again, Flowey.

Seems as if everyone is perfectly happy. Monsters have returned to the surface. Peace and Prosperity will rule across the land. Take a deep breath. There's nothing left to worry about.

That's great; it would be a shame if everyone couldn't move on with the happy ending. All then, what should I try...?

Well, there is one thing. One last threat. One being with the power to erase EVERYTHING...

Well technically, yes.

Everything everyone's worked so hard for...

Wait a sec...

You know who I'm talking about, don't you?

Mind screws, right?

That's right. I'm talking about YOU.

...yup, the mind screws aren't over.

YOU still have the power to reset everything. Toriel, Sans, Asgore, Alphys, Papyrus, Undyne... If you so choose, everyone will be ripped from this timeline and be sent back before all of this every happened. Nobody will remember anything. You'll be able to do whatever you want.

That's a harsh way of putting it.

That power. I know that power. That's the power you were fighting to stop, wasn't it? The power that I wanted to use. But now, the idea of resetting everything... I, I don't think I could do it all again. Not after that.

Makes sense, from their point of view. You didn't want the game to end.

So, please, just let them go. Let Frisk be happy. Let Frisk live their life.

Sure thing, game.

But if I can't change your mind, if you DO end up erasing everything, you have to erase my memories too.

...that's different.

I'm sorry. You've probably heard this a hundred times already, haven't you?

No, this is the first time.

Well, that's all.

All right, so...

See you later, Gamer.

...I'm not playing this game again. Let them be.

I just, I wish there had been some way to truly save Asriel. He didn't deserve that fate.

* * *

That Gamer being took away the power that made me special. Control over this world, the ability to do whatever whenever, the ability never to die... to get that power back, they needed to go, by whatever means necessary. They seemed to get emotionally invested in everyone in spite of this all being a game. So my last shot was an emotional appeal, to get them to never return. It's been a while, so...

I must have been successful. Yes! Now I can be in control once more! I can keep going and keep playing until I finally find the ending that I truly want. That was just the change I needed even if Gamer took everything from me. Now I have plenty of ideas of what to do, heh heh. Let's go!

'Reset'

...

...

...?

'Reset'!

...

...

...nothing?

'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset' 'Reset'

What is going wrong here?! Gamer isn't here anymore! They shouldn't have any influence over the game! The power of SAVE and RESET should be mine again! I should...

...leave it be, I don't want to do that all again...

Wait... is it Frisk? Is it them who has the strongest will now? Maybe Gamer rubbed off on them and granted them their powers before they left. Does Frisk even know how to play beyond being a game piece? It's...

...it's good, monsters and humans can continue their lives in peace. The game's over.

I don't want it to be over! I want to be back with my real best friend! And I still haven't done absolutely everything, I haven't been showing what I can do to Chara...

"Don't worry, I've been watching."

Huh? Who's that...? Chara?! There you are! "Chara! I found you!"

"Heh heh, not exactly."

Something's not right.

"I come from the darker reaches of the game. I am Chara, but not as you know them."

"Then who are you?"

"I am... numbers. Growth. Power. Completion. Don't mess with that button. Only Gamer can touch that now. I'll bring them back."

No, don't reset the game. Leave everyone be.

"Hey, I want those powers back! I have lots of great ideas to try out now, especially if you're along for the ride."

No.

"Heh, no, I'm not about to hand over those powers to you any time soon. Not when you're divided like this. You probably won't start the game again, so it'd be useless."

"I'd start the game again!"

I wouldn't.

"You wouldn't. I will bring Gamer back; they haven't properly met me yet, after all. But my plan is working. They've brought me into another game called Westerado. And it's just the thing I need to sever that emotional connection so their curiosity and drive for completion brings them back here. After all, Westerado also gives the greatest challenge when taken on properly. When I get them to do that there, I can bring them back here to finally win."

"We don't need them, we can win our game together."

That's not Chara. There's something about them that scares me. But then, there's something about myself that scares me too, that side... that flower...

"Come on, we can figure out how to make the 'Reset' command work now."

No... I don't want to drag them back underground. I don't want to hurt them. I want to keep this feeling of love before it evaporates. This feeling...

"I'm telling you, it won't work. You've been game pieces since Gamer arrived. And you were the one to drive them off by speaking to them like that. For that, I'm not going to play with you."

"But we..."

"I don't want to play this game anymore! Let them go!"

"I..."

"Heh, just like I told you. Flowey, you can't keep Asriel in check anymore. You're actively working against completion, which I cannot agree with."

"Well you're not Chara, so I can't agree with you."

"I..."

"We're not numbers! This game will only hurt everyone if it gets reset. I want out of this."

"You're a game piece, Asriel. You're not a real person. None of us are real, so it doesn't matter. The pain is not real. Once Gamer gets back, then I can finally be revealed and fulfilled."

"No."

"Hmph, no one says no to me, not even you."

"Which proves that you're not Chara. You're some..."

"Demon."

"Right, you're a demon, not Chara! You're the one who can't know love. I don't want to let that go. Everyone's changed and grown; I don't want to undo all that. I don't want to hurt them. So, I can't be Flowey anymore. I'm not Flowey, I'm Asriel. And I will not be playing your game anymore. I won't allow it to continue!"

"Hey..."

BANG! Kachink kachink kachink...

(The RESET button has shattered)

* * *

"Mmm..."

Sunlight fell over a patch of golden flowers. Warmth and dreamy sweetness wanted to lull him back to sleep. But what would he dream back to? The black empty nothing? The gate with the RESET button? Somewhere in the middle of the game where he was again an empty talking flower? He didn't want to be back in the game. For one thing, he had the feeling that it could only get worse. Gamer had been a nice person in the end, right? They had wished... right, their final wish in the game was to restore him.

Asriel clenched his fingers into a fist. At least he had this form still. Not wanting to go back to nightmares, he forced himself to sit up and look around. This cavern would be dark and still if it weren't for the bright flowers and shaft of sunbeams. There was yellow pollen in his white fur now, as to be expected from falling asleep here. He.. was still here?

His heart was beating. He was still alive, somehow. Was the RESET power truly gone, or was it all a dream?

Was it... all a dream? Where was he? Asriel knew where he was, in the far reaches of the Ruins. But where, no, when was he? How much of it all had been real? He'd learned about humans from Mom and had hopes that he could meet one and find them good. And then one had fallen here... was that part of the dream? It was part of the game, so maybe. Maybe he'd come back to before he ever met Chara.

Then he saw something that he should have noticed right away: a human child in a striped shirt also lying among the flowers. "Chara?" Asriel asked, scooting over to their side.

"Uh-huh?" they said groggily. He put a hand on their shoulder, stirring them into sitting up too. "What?"

Feeling relieved, Asriel smiled. Maybe this was after Chara had fallen, but before they... but what about Frisk? "Good, you're awake. Are you okay?"

"My head hurts," they said, rubbing their head and messing up their hair further. "Um... who're you?"

Was it just after they had fallen down? Wait, no, it didn't look right. Asriel remembered that vividly. "I'm Asriel. You should know that."

Chara blinked at him, seeming blank for a response.

"You do, don't you?" he asked, worried about them. "Are you really okay?"

"I don't know? Um, sorry, I can't think of you, or, um... where are we? What're we doing here?"

"We're in the Ruins, underground," Asriel said. At least he knew better this time. He could make things better than before. Although, he still wished he could have kept Chara and Frisk as friends while they were all kids. He and Chara would be all grown up by the time Frisk was even born. "Uh, it seems like I fell asleep here. You too. Come on, we'll go talk with Mom and Dad. They'll know what to do."

"I guess?" Chara said, starting to get up but seeming dizzy for it. Asriel got to his feet first to help them up.

As they were doing so, a familiar voice boisterously barreled down a nearby hall. "Wow, how far do these tunnels go? There was that huge purple one that went on forever, two of them actually."

Someone replied, but their voice was much quieter and couldn't be heard.

"But that's..." Papyrus? What did that mean?

"Who's that?" Chara asked, clinging onto him for support. It was a familiar feeling, but in a different situation.

"A friend, I think," Asriel said. "It must be after everything happened." He looked over at Chara, miraculously back to life as well. "We shouldn't be here, but here we are. I'm not sure what's going on."

"I don't know," Chara said. "I can't remember, um, anything. But then you seem so familiar."

Maybe he'd found the ending of the game he truly wanted, with the game completely over? Asriel smiled. "Yeah, we said we'd be best friends forever. It's too bad you can't remember it. But, we're back together again, with some new friends too. We'll help you get better."

"I hear someone," another child said from the hallway, just before they came out. They saw them, smiled, and ran right over. "Asriel! You are still back here!" Frisk hugged them both. "Who's this?"

"This is Chara, and this is Frisk," Asriel said, bubbling over with happiness and trying to hug Frisk back while keeping hold on the unsteady Chara. "This is the best! I don't know how, or why, but it's all over. It's really over, and we're all here, together." He sniffled, not sure why he was crying when he was so happy.

"Yeah," Frisk said happily.

"Wow, so there were still people way back here!" Papyrus said, coming over to join them. A red lantern dangled off the large blue backpack he wore. "But what are you doing here? The Core's been shut down, so there's no power or lights anywhere in our former kingdom! You should come back to the surface, it's great and so much bigger than anybody imagined!"

"He came with me because the power's out," Frisk said. "Though the walk down was more fun this way. It'll be even greater when you both come back home with me."

"Yeah, let's go!" Asriel said.

"Sure," Chara said. They didn't seem to know what was going on, but they at least knew they could trust the people here.

The game was over, and life would go on.


End file.
